Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for detecting the location of a mobile computing device and, more particularly, to a method for detecting the location of a mobile computing device, which is capable of detecting a location without using a GPS, and a mobile computing device performing the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
A global positioning system (GPS) receiver receives signals transmitted by three or more GPS satellites and determines the location of the receiver. If a time difference between the signals transmitted by the satellites and a signal received by the GPS receiver is measured, the distance between the satellites and the GPS receiver may be calculated. In this case, the signals transmitted by the satellites include information about the locations of the satellites. The GPS receiver may calculate its location using a method, such as trilateration, based on the distance between the GPS receiver and at least three satellites and the locations of the satellites. A mobile computing device including a GPS module may calculate its location by receiving signals transmitted by satellites.
In the case of a location detection method using a GPS, however, there is a problem in that an available time of a mobile computing device having a limited battery capacity is significantly reduced because the consumption of the battery is great.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2014-0073677 relates to a method for determining the location of a terminal in a communication system using multiple beams. The method may include the steps of receiving a first beam from a first point, receiving a second beam from a second point, and determining the location of a terminal using information about the first beam and the second beam. If such a location determination method is used, when two or more valid beams are received in a system using multiple beams, the location of a terminal can be determined using the angles of beams and information about the departure and/or final coordinates of the beams even without using a positioning device, such as a GPS.